Kristy Caldwell is an illustrator and educator in New York. She helped launch the literary journal Carrier Pigeon: Illustrated Fiction and Fine Art and worked as the Director of Archives and Publications for Castelli Gallery.

Since 2021 she’s been researching how creatives can use active imagination to engage with new perspectives in their work. She’s currently a faculty thesis adviser for SVA’s MFA in Visual Narrative program and an Assistant Professor of Illustration and Design at Queens College CUNY.

kc@kristycaldwell.com / 646-581-5691 / @kristy.caldwell

Selected interviews and press

Conversations: “Trim Sets Sail” and “Trim Helps Out” – Historical Fiction about a Ship’s Cat (Kansas Public Radio)

Ready Set Draw! (Kidlit TV)

From the 19th Century to Today: Giving a Voice to People Through Time Using Stories Past and Present (Mackin Learning)

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Children’s Book Council
Let’s Talk Picture Books
Kidlit411
Judy Newman at Scholastic
Arts and Crafts with Kristy Caldwell (Scholastic)

Recognition for Flowers for Sarajevo

Junior Library Guild Selection | Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2017 | New York Library’s Best Books for Kids 2017 | Chicago Tribune Top 10 Picture Books of 2017 | A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year 2018

Other recognition

Recent Instagram stuff

Congratulations to all @queenscollegedesign illustration students and alumni tabling at @soi128 MoCCA Arts Fest this weekend, and an extra special congratulations to mastermind @johnleedraws. The most joyous table of art you’ll ever see!

Deborah and I spoke with Dan Skinner on his Kansas Public Radio show “Conversations” about our collaboration on the Trim book series, and it was also our first time speaking to each other face to face! The link to the audio version is in

Somehow missed the original announcements, but my pandemic-era "virtual cartoon exhibition" series with @castelligallery was chosen as an American Illustration 42 winner and is still displayed in the online gallery. Thanks to the judges!

I'm really happy to be teaching this 5-week online course again through @mcadedu continuing ed. It's called "Active Imagination: An Ideation Process for Creatives" and will mostly happen over Google Meet. A lot of my students have already e

Empathetic portrait exercise: Close your eyes and focus on someone you care about :) Imagine them as they are today. Easy! Or maybe not? Really look at them. Maybe you haven’t done that in a while. Then—go slowly—imagine them as a c

A fun day: @kellyr2d2 came to Pratt to share a theatre director's perspective on composition, gesture, and movement. And we made some "live action" three-panel comics. The first ever?

Soon has come! Trim Helps Out on October 3. That's right, it's a SERIES. If you've ever wondered what a day in the life of a ship's cat looks like, we chronicle it here in minute and 100% (?) accurate detail. I'll share some sketches and preliminary

It's happening! Trim Sets Sail on October 3. In the early 1800s a cat named Trim boarded a ship and never looked back. I'd join him if I could, but the next best thing is talking about his adventures with @deborah_hopkinson and then drawing them from

Selected review quotes

“Sure to inspire the explorers of tomorrow. … Illustrator Kristy Caldwell’s clean, colorful depictions of faraway settings and remote locales bring wonderful immediacy to the story.” —BookPage (Away With Words)

“Caldwell’s artwork is stunning, using rich colors and panels in a graphic novel–like style.” —School Library Journal (Flowers for Sarajevo)

“It’s rare to find a children’s book that’s so completely a work of art.” —YA and Kids Book Central (Flowers for Sarajevo)

“Thought-provoking ... Gray-toned art using ink, charcoal, pencil, and Photoshop finds beauty in a war-ravaged place.” —The Horn Book (Flowers for Sarajevo)

“Caldwell’s energetic, full-color, Sunday-comics illustrations are satisfyingly chaotic.” —Kirkus Reviews (Meet the Bobs and Tweets)